The Ultimate Lifeform Returns
by SotF
Summary: Sequal to Casting Call. Shadow shows up at a parallel universe to the one he left behind, and he has one heck of a new foe to deal with. Can a chaos infused hedgehog with the power of the Emeralds go head to head with a hell goddess? And Janus is having a


**AN**: I was asked to write a sequal to this for a friend, the same one who I wrote the first part for, this one is a graduation gift though, two years of College and still going...

But as for Shadow's attitude, a big chunk of it also seems to come from Vegeta from DBZ, not totally sure why Shadow and Vegeta seem to mesh, but they do. Their personalities seem very close.

**ChaosZero**: The idea with Janus had hit me while I was starting Casting Call, and thus this was, in a way, born. And yeah, I did twist the emeralds around a bit to make them fit this better. I really wanted Xander to become something else as his power grew, something that would be unexpected for Xan to become. And well, Shadow is a serious badass, when you combine that with the ruthlessness Xander occasionally shows when he protects his friends, well then you get this kind of thing. And when he no longer has anyone to protect, well, then you've got trouble.

**MysticSuperSaiyanGohan**: This isn't exactly Shadow as he was, he has a ruthlessness he picked up from the part of him that is Xander and without a small target for that, he became something else. This Shadow is more of an ass than the original, and he has a whole lot of anger to deal with at the same time.

**Selene**: If I needed an idea, I would have asked, thanks for the offer though. I wasn't planning on continuing this because of all the plotbunnies that I'm already dealing with. Here's the second part of this tale.

**D. P. Mage**: Thanks, I ended up continuing it after a request for the person who asked me to write the first part.

**Firehedgehog**: Here you go

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"Janus," Shadow snarled as he climbed to his feet, "What the hell happened?"

The chaos god materialized besides the black furred hedgehog, "Sorry, it wasn't my fault, one of the Morons that Be decided that they didn't want you messing with that world again."

"Then how do I get there?"

"Not quite sure," the divine entity said with a chuckle, "Never really considered it, but perhaps with enough power..."

Shadow chuckled.

"...Uh, if you have a plan, please tell me what it is," Janus asked his companion.

"I'll just need to learn to access the next level, it has been some time since I felt the power of my hyper level," the black furred one said calmly.

"Dear lord," the being muttered to himself.

"Is in heaven right now, probably laughing his ass off," the hedgehog responded, "So, is there anything to do in this dimension, or should I assume that the usual works just fine?"

"Well, this is a parallel universe to the one you left, apparently it has a time differential of about a year, so perhaps you can find someone to beat the crap out of without wrecking the place," the chaos god said with a shudder as he remembered what the hedgehog viewed as fun, and chaos was not about random destruction and explosions, it was more about keeping the balance, preventing either side from gaining control of the universe by making plans go haywire.

Then he noticed that the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't there anymore.

"Well, I need a drink," he muttered to himself as he heard the first sirens, "A really strong drink..."

**

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Shadow was laughing hysterically as the policecars entered pursuit of the black furred speedster entered the road at seventy miles an hour after landing on the hood of the policecar.

"Yee-haw," he screamed as he ducked under a tanker and leaped atop a moving van and kept on going.

A moment he was running in reverse and then switched directions with a leap over the police cruiser to head the opposite direction. The sound of twisting metal met the laugh of the hedgehog as he floored it in the other direction.

In the raw speed, Shadow felt free as if all the chains that normally held him back were gone and he saw the world as it truely was.

He felt the barrier that he knew signaled his fastest without a transformation, but pushed as hard as he could, trying to increase his speed as the street crumbled behind him. The raw energy he was putting off would soon reach the point that without the chaotic energies released while transformed, the air itself would combust from the friction.

He reached out with the energy that flowed through him, looking for something that could be worth a laugh or two.

**

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Janus just shook his head as he watched the high speed chase down the freeway on the news as he ordered a second drink.

"How the hell do I always end up in situations like this," he muttered to himself and then jerked when an explosion sounded a little to close, "That's why, I'm an idiot!"

And then something registered on his senses, "Damn it, how the hell did SHE get into this dimension?"

**

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Shadow paused for a moment, perched in a rafter of the building as he watched this dimensions version of Buffy duke it out with a moronic blond in a dress.

He was enjoying this one, the Slayer was being put in her place, but he just wished he had some popcorn. But then he felt some of the old feelings start to rise within him, and while he could suppress his friendship with the others some, old feelings still existed on some level or another. It showed that he wasn't exactly the same Shadow the Hedgehog that had gone toe to toe with the fake, blue hedgehog time and time again on that world, and nor was he still his dimensions version of Xander Harris. He was a mix of the two, but most of who he was came from his Hedgehog self, the form he preferred to remain in whenever he could.

And then he shrugged, the fight was getting borning anyway, time to spice it up a bit.

He landed behind the creature that was facing this version of the Slayer.

"Pathetic," he said with a snicker, "So, the idiot needs to hit the weak to have others think she's strong?"

"Who dares!"

"That would be me," Shadow responded in a bored tone as he adjusted the straps on his gloves, "Names Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog, also known as the Worlds Ultimate Lifeform."

"And I'm a godess, you insignificant rodent!" she snarled at him

Yeah, he still had it.

"Godess?" he laughed, "Look girly, I've seen gods and godesses before and you really don't compare."

His smirk grew as he felt her rage, "So, you wanna dance? Let's dance!"

**

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"Why me," Janus muttered to himself as he faded from existance to reappear in the air above the fight, "At least there's entertainment this time..."

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Glory was ina full berzerker rage as she tried to swat the spiked being that evaded her with ease.

"Sorry," Shadow laughed as the hell godess smashed another support while trying to connect, "Not my fault that you're so slow."

He went vertical and through the skylight as the building collapsed.

"Moron," he stated as he started to walk away from the rubble as the dust cloud expanded.

Then he heard the rubble shift and a growl of anger.

"Alright rodent, time to die!"

"So, you managed to survive a buildings collapse, I guess that means I get to have some more fun," Shadow chuckled, "Haven't had a ral challenge for a while now."

"Time to die," Glory roared as she charged, moving faster than she had and connected with the punch.

The black, red, and white furred hedgehog crashed through three buildings before skidding to a stop, "Well, I guess that I need to crank it up a level as well."

"Pathetic Rodent," Glory said with a cackle as she walked towards him, "You aren't a match for a diety, you now face my full power!"

"Well then," Shadow said with a slow chuckle as he brushed blood from his lips, "I guess I'll have to follow suit."

He focused for a moment, drawing on the power within him and released it.

The energy backwash flooded the room as he transformed.

The gold, silver, and red hedgehog stood there with a smirk on his face as he hovered off the ground amidst the dust cloud.

"So, you were saying?" he said as his crimson eyes narrowed at the godess that suddenly felt really small.

"No...no this is impossible," she screamed, "No mortal can have this much power!"

"That would be true if it wasn't for what I am," Shadow said calmly, "I was created as the Ultimate Lifeform, and part of what I'm not, is mortal, I will not die from age or disease, and my power will constantly grow and change from the conditions I now exist in, the Chaos energy within me stays at the maximum I can handle and that increases my capacity."

"What?"

"But enough talk," the hedgehog said calmly, "It is time to end this, Chaos Spear!"

Glory's eyes widened as she felt the power before it hit, enough energy to destroy a town if it were released carelessly, but this was a focused attack. Her death was instantanious as her atoms were spread to the winds in a fraction of a second.

"I win," he said calmly as he slowed the energy and reverted to his normal form and touched down on the ground, his boots having activated only enough to gentle the fall to a feathers touch.

"Shadow, how the hell did you manage to pick a fight with someone that quickly?" Janus asked as he materialized beside his friend.

"I interupt your bar hopping?"

"Ye...that's not the point!"

"Well, I guess you're going to try to annoy me into buying you another?" Shadow responded with a glare at his companion.

"Erm," the diety managed to say.

"So, where to now?" the hedgehog asked with an annoyed look.

"Well, first, you ought to turn around and attempt to explain to the girl just what happened," Janus said with a chuckle.

Shadow spun and saw a rather annoyed slayer standing there, "Well, crap."

He turned back to the god to see only empty space, "Traitor, this has to be because of the booze."

"Who and what are you," the blond slayer demanded.

He just rolled his eyes and muttered, "How the hell do I get myself into these things?"

"Who are you!" Buffy demanded whiletrying to grab him.

"Damn, just as pig headed in this dimension," he stated as he dodged with ease, "If you want to know so badly, call me Shadow the Hedgehog."

He started to walk out of the room, "This and every other worlds Ultimate Lifeform."

And then he dashed away.

**

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"I haven't found what I'm looking for," Shadow said to his ally as he perched atop one of the buildings.

"Then you can just jump somewhere else," Janus said with a chuckle, "I cann't sense any barriers other than the one you already ran into, so just jump for another one, eventually you'll gain the power."

"Well then," Shadow said with a slight chuckle, "I guess there is one thing left to say, Chaos Control!"

And he was gone in a flash of emerald light.

"And the kid gets the points for dramatics," Janus declared, "Now to get a drink and then follow the punk, he'd get himself killed without me."


End file.
